Cheap thrills: Japanese teenagers use Google Earth and a projector to 'skydive'

It's certainly one way of getting around the costs of sky-diving. Not to mention avoiding the obvious risks associated with the real thing.

These Japanese teenagers used their initiative to create a realistic sky-diving experience by simply using Google Earth and a projector.

In a video that has been posted on YouTube the group use blue plastic to give the impression of the sky and the sprayed it with white paint to look like clouds.

The pair appear to plummet through the sky towards the ground as their friend slowly zooms in using Google Earth

But it is the clever use of Google Earth and a laptop which gives their stunt a clever twist.

They then fasten themselves into a harness and pulley system which hoisted them up so they can assume a free-falling position. Face-down over a huge mat, an image of Japan from Google Earth is then projected onto the ground below them.

A friend then slowly zooms in through the different levels on Google Earth to give them the impression that are were dropping out of the sky.

To add to the sensation they were squirted with fire extinguishers and fans to make it feel like the wind buffeting them as they fell.

They ingenious set-up and the video of them in hysterics as they play with it has been viewed on YouTube almost 200,000 times.